Tri-tip photos

My grocery store had tri-tips on sale again last week, and I picked some up.

As I've mentioned more than once on this blog, I really like making and eating tri-tips, but I don't see them that often.

Maybe that is changing as this is already the second time I've made them this summer (see Tri-tip). That would be awesome.

The sales was buy-one-get-one-free, so I actually have another nice-sized tri-tip in my freezer that I'll make sometime before the summer is over.

I'm quite certain this will be the only time I've made tri-tips so many times in a season.

Anyway ... If you've read any of my other tri-tip posts, you pretty much know how I make them ...

Z is for CraZy Mountain Brewery

Here we are ... we got through Round 4 of the A to Z series of posts.

If you're new to the blog, or just have not been paying attention ...

Way back in 2015, I was a little embarrassed at how few of the Denver area breweries I had visited.

As I was looking through a list of the breweries in the area, it struck me that there were breweries starting with (just about) every letter in the alphabet.

And ... staring with A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company, I started working my way through the alphabet.

In fact, I was able to get through A to Z Denver Breweries Round 1, A to Z Denver Breweries Round 2, and A to Z Denver Breweries Round 3.

And ... here we are about to finish up Round 4 ... Big Z, Little Z, what begins with Z?

Z is for CraZy Mountain Brewery

Country Style Pork Ribs

Country Style Pork Ribs ... Aren't.

It's annoyingly misleading that these things are called "ribs", isn't it?

I honestly have no idea why they are labeled "ribs", and Google really has not been very helpful in answering this question for me. 

They are actually cut from the shoulder of the pig.

Regardless, though, they are delicious.

I made some on the Weber Kettle last weekend.

They are pretty easy to make. I put charcoal in the "vortex" in the middle of my kettle and placed the "ribs" around it.

Helles Won't Kellerbier (Batch 340)

Well, I brewed again this past Sunday.

This is already my 15th of batch of beer this year, and my 340th batch all-time.

I'm getting to a point where I might have to stop claiming that my 2023 brewing totals will be down from 2022.

I'm not quite there, yet, though. I still think my 2023 totals will be less than last year.

Sunday's batch was a new recipe and new style for me.

If you follow this blog at all, you can probably guess what I brewed after reading Roll-a-Style 10 ... Kellerbier.

Tryna get girls from a brand? Man, you hella won't

Man, you hella won't

Helles Won't Kellerbier

Roll-a-Style 10 ... Kellerbier

After Roll-a-Style 13 ... Bière de Garde ... I thought I'd try another Roll-a-Style.

I rolled the Online 20 sided die and rolled ...

10 corresponds to Historical Beer: Kellerbier.

Gypsy Magic Bière de Garde (Batch 339)

Remember I said I am running low on beer?

Well ... because of that, I decided to brew on the 4th of July this year.

This is already my 14th batch of beer this year, and my 339th batch ever.

If I'm counting correctly, this would be my 218th unique recipe.

You'll remember I had decided to brew a "Bière de Garde" next on Roll-a-Style 13 ... Bière de Garde.

Of course, Bière de Garde isn't a style of beer I see a bunch in breweries or liquor stores, so I probably won't get a chance to compare my batch to a commercial example ... but that's ok ...

Gypsy Magic Bière de Garde

2023 Hail Storm Summer Saison (batch 338)

It is summer, and that means it is time to brew my Summer Seasonal Saison.

We've had a lot of company and the over the last few weeks, and of course we had 2023 Fathers' Day Weekend.

This prevented me from brewing over most of June AND all these visiting people have been drinking my beer.

So .. my beer inventory is lower than usual.

I mentioned in 2023 Q2 Brewing Stats, that my Hail Storm Summer Saison would be the next beer I brewed.

Last Sunday, I did ...

Hail Storm Summer Saison

Roll-a-Style 13 ... Bière de Garde

Ok ... after having people visiting and drinking a bunch of my beer, I need to brew to get my inventory back up.

In order to determine what to brew next, I decided to start the SheppyBrew Roll-a-Style.

So ... I used my online 20 sided die and rolled ...

On my list, 13 just happened to correspond with style 24C. Bière de Garde.

Y is for Black SkY BrewerY

We're getting close to the end of Round 4 of the A to Z series of posts.

It was almost a month ago that I posted X is for Los Dos Potrillos MeXican Restaurant and Brewery.

Of course, after "X" comes "Y" ... and shortly after that ... "Z".

As I mentioned, the Colorado Brewery Map & List doesn't really have anything in the "Y" section close enough that we could use.

We used Y is for Yak and Yeti Restaurant and Brewpub, Y is for Over Yonder Brewing Company, and Y is for Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Company in rounds 1 to 3.

We really had to take a little artistic license for this one ...

Y is for Black SkY BrewerY

2023 Q2 Brewing Stats

As I type this, there are still a few days left in Q2 of 2023, but I am not going to brew again this month, so I can actually get my SheppyBrew Brewing Stats for the quarter in.

You may remember that Q1 was a busy brewing quarter, and this quarter was basically just as busy.

I keep saying I'll slow down to get a more reasonable total in 2023, but so far I have not managed to slow down very much at all.

My excuse this quarter was that my youngest son graduated high school and I needed beer for various family members to consume for our celebrations.

Regardless of the reason, I brewed another 6 batches of beer in Q2, matching my Q1 total and bring my total for the year up to 12 batches of beer.

Melting Stream Spring Saison brew day

Double Pork Butt

So ... remember in Double Chuck Roast, I doubled up on Chuck Roasts to feel family visiting for my younger son's graduation from high school.

Well, this past weekend, we had more family visiting, again mostly to celebrate my son.

This group was even bigger.

This time, I decided to go with a couple of 9ish pound pork butts so I'd have plenty of meat for the big group of family we have visiting.

Early Saturday morning ... around 3am ... I got the kettle ready and the pork on the fire by 3:30 ish.

I let the pork shoulder smoke for around 6 hours. 

SheppyBrew Roll-a-Style

So ... Remember in 2021 BCJP Styles to Brew ... I have several BJCP Styles that I have not brewed.

There are a significant number in that list that I don't really want to brew, but most of those are beer styles I'd at least like to try.

There is a homebrew podcast that I listen to "Homebrew Bound", and they do a thing every few episodes that they call "Roll-a-Style". Basically they have a set of descriptors listed. They roll a 20 sided die to come up with new (weird) styles of beer.

I thought it would be fun to (sort of) steal the idea.

 

Captain Serious vs Westbound & Down Italian Pilsner

Right now, my favorite SheppyBrew Beer on tap is Captain Serious Pilsner.

I don't have very much left because one of my favorite brother-in-laws (I have like a hundred of them) ... visited a couple weekends ago. It was also his favorite of my beers on tap, and he drank a lot of it.

I don't know if I've shared this, but Captain Serious Pilsner (Batch 333) was (at least partially) inspired by W is for Westbound & Down's Italian Pilsner.

In W is for Westbound & Down (Denver), I did share that this Italian Pilsner was one of my favorite commercial beers right now.

I had a few cans of the Westbound & Down's Italian Pilsner in my fridge when he was visiting.

I brought it out and told him Captain Serious had been inspired by Westbound & Down's Italian Pilsner. We both had a pint of Captain Serious and shared a pint of Westbound & Down's Italian Pilsner.

2023 Fathers' Day Weekend Pictures

The past few Fathers' Days, I've posted photos of camping trips my wife and kids have taken me on.

I love camping, and my family knows this so Fathers' Days are pretty much the only guaranteed times that I actually get to go camping.

This past Fathers' Day, my family took me to Cow Creek South Campground by Green Mountain Reservoir just north of Silverthorn, Colorado.

It's been real rainy here in Colorado for several weeks and this weekend was no exception.

We got quite a bit of rain, but it was still a great trip. I'd rather be camping in the rain than sitting on my couch at home any day.

Double Chuck Roast

We had my wife's family visiting this past weekend to help celebrate my younger son's graduation from high school.

On Saturday, we wanted some BBQ, but of course my wife also wanted me to spend time with the family.

If you follow this blog at all, you probably have seen posts about me smoking chuck roast for shredded beef sandwiches.

Chuck roast takes a long time to get tender enough to shred the beef, but I like to smoke it for a few hours in the morning and then put it in the Crock Pot for several hours afterward.

That way, I don't have to pay attention to the cooking meat for the majority of the time it is cooking ... at least after that couple of hours on the smoker.

Tri-tip

While in the grocery store last week, I noticed that Tri-tips were on sale.

I love tri-tip, but hardly ever see them around me, and when it is it usually is too expensive for me to want to purchase it.

So, when I saw them on sale, I had to grab one. In retrospect I wish I would have picked up another ... but oh well ...

This past Sunday, after my Brew Day, I cooked it up.

This was actually a much bigger cut than I've ever had here in Denver, but that just makes it even better.

I added SPG onto the meat early in the day.

Alpine Tundra IPA (Batch 337)

If you follow this blog, you knew it was coming ... 

I told you I was brewing an IPA soon.

I did it. Sunday I brewed an IPA. I do believe this is the IPA-est IPA I've ever brewed.

A total of 8 ounces of hops. 4 ounces in the boil. 4 ounces in dry hop.

Citra / Galaxy / Mosaic / Talus.

Up until this past Sunday, I've brewed 336 batches of beer, and only about 11 of those batches could be considered IPA's.

Unfortunately, it feels like most craft beer fans consider IPA the only craft beer style. 

It is sad that for a movement that is supposed to be so much about variety, so many people have such a narrow view.

Regardless, I do love a good West Coast IPA, and will brew one to have a hoppy beer on tap.

Alpine Tundra IPA

X is for Los Dos Potrillos MeXican Restaurant and Brewery

After W is for Westbound & Down (Denver), we just have 3 letters left to finish off round 4 of our  A to Z Breweries series of posts.

Wow! 

I started off Round 1 of the project with A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company way back in March of 2015 because I was embarrassed at how few Denver Area Breweries I had been to.

It took me almost 4 years to finish Round 1. I got through Round 2 in less then half  the time.

At some point, my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) joined me, and since then we have been flying through the list.

Round 4 started with A is for A Bit Twisted Brewpub in June of 2022. Here it is, less than 1 year later and we're already on "X".

X is for Los Dos Potrillos MeXican Restaurant and Brewery

Sandwiches on the Kettle Griddle Plate

So ... I'm a little surprised it hasn't shown up on this blog before, but I have this Hunsaker Smokers Griddle Plate for my 22 inch Weber Kettle.

I got it for a Christmas or birthday (or maybe Father's Day) gift awhile ago.

I use it mostly for smash burgers on the kettle.

When I got it, I thought I'd do breakfast eggs and bacon on it ... but I've yet to try that.

This past weekend, I was using up some of the left over pork butt from the last time I made pulled pork, and I thought I'd use the Griddle Plate for sandwiches.

So, I got myself some peppers and cut them up with onions.

Tafel Mystère Belgian Single (Batch 336)

Yeah, I've been brewing a lot lately. Contrary to what I keep "saying" on this blog, right now, I'm on track to brew more beer this year than even 2021.

I still believe I'll slow down enough that this year's total will be less than last year's, but as we get farther and farther into the year, it seem increasingly possible that I am wrong about that.

My excuse right now is that my wife's (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model's) family is coming to visit in June, and I'll need a lot of beer for this group.

Anyway, after finishing off Melting Stream quicker than expected, I thought I needed another batch of beer going.

I had a mason jar of yeast in the fridge that I was fairly sure was Wyeast 1214 Belgian Ale Yeast, but not 100% sure.

I thought I'd use that to make a "Belgium Table Beer".

Tafel Mystère Belgian Single